Radio plays in the music industry!

Are radio plays even something you should be considering? Isn’t Spotify the new radio? Isn’t radio irrelevant in the digital world?

If these are the questions you are asking, well, you aren’t the only one. However, radio plays have been and still hold a very important place in the entire system of widening your music’s reach. Radio is one of the oldest broadcasting methods and probably the first ever technology that allowed people to listen to music. It would be rather foolish to underestimate the power of a radio play given the tough competition in the music industry today. 

In this blog article, we will answer these questions:

1. What is a radio play? 
2. Why are radio plays important for your music?
3. How to get radio plays for your music? 
4. How do you track a radio play? 
5. What's our final say?

What is a Radio Play?

In layman’s terms, a radio play, often known as ‘spins’ basically refers to getting your song played on the radio. The number of times your music gets played in a month, the number of ‘rotations’ in other words, could make an upcoming artist a global music star. In the 20th century, before the commencement of the internet and online streaming of music, radio was the prominent way of music promotion and a radio play was literally all the music promotion the artist needed back then. 

Pssst…come here: Radio plays were actually a matter of luxury to a music artist in the industry. Getting your music to be played on the radio was EXTREMELY difficult so if an artist got the opportunity, it directly validated the music’s potential because the radio held that much power. Of course, today, there are better alternatives, radio plays are a little more accessible, making it easier for upcoming musicians like you to get your music played on the radio. 

There are two types of radio plays you need to know about:

• Commercial radio:

  Commercial radio plays are the most difficult ones to get, precisely because major record label artists dominate here. The thing with commercial radio is that the rotation is HIGH. This implies that music that gets played here, gets played OFTEN - resulting in becoming popular very soon. That’s why a lot of commercial music gets radio plays easily, the hooks are made catchy and it’ll probably take less rotation to get the job done - make the listeners get hooked to the track soon. 

There are other syndicated commercial shows that are hosted by different people and have designated music directors. Radio jockeys and music directors/producers of the program basically team up and play music between the shows. Some directors and producers could be very friendly to independent musicians like yourself, so they could help you get your radio play at one of their shows. Some stations that accept music from independent musicians and bands are Exile FM, Krac Radio, Phoenix Radio, Radio Wigwam, and so on. Of course, the rotation wouldn’t be that effective here, but it is definitely worth a shot. 

Pssst…come here: Remember that these are the traditional music radio stations we're talking about. Ever since rock n roll became a prominent genre in the industry, these stations started to hold a prominent place in the broadcasting field. These radio stations are huge, and hence their following and listening are probably 10 times bigger than any of the local stations you may know. So if you get a chance to get a radio play, it can boost your career graph. It'll be all the more helpful if you get it in the early stages of your music career - you'll go from probably 900 monthly listeners on Spotify to 100k and more, within a month. 

• Non-commercial radio:

  As the name suggests, this is probably less popular among the masses and is a non-profit radio. These kinds of radios will have talk shows, radio stations, and podcasts that commercial radio will have too, but none of them have advertising space. Your community radio stations, college radio stations, and online radio, all fall under this category.
• College radios are specially curated and extremely local means of communication, handled by students only. Many famous artists like Coldplay and Megadeth have asserted that college radios helped them get the early support that they needed, which boosted their music careers. A major advantage of college radio is that the team is small but close-knit, the accessibility you have to these college radios would be great compared to the commercial ones. It's very easy to reach out to the music directors (students) of these college radios to get your music played on the show. Additionally, the listeners of college radio fall under the age category of any fanbase you'd build on - 18 to 22 years - young adults. Since college radios are community-based, you'd reach a good audience if you get a radio play on college radios. The selling point is that college radios usually play music that's not mainstream or commercial - giving you, the independent artist, a fair chance to submit your music and get it played on their radio shows. 

Pssst…come here: It's all about networking. If you get a radio play with a non-commercial radio station (which is fairly easy), you could network your way through to reach those who work for bigger radio channels and stations, those that are probably more mainstream. Plus, getting a non-commercial radio play would act as evidence for your references and recommendations when you meet professionals who work at commercial radio stations. 

Why are radio plays important?

As aforementioned, the idea of a radio play itself indicates legitimization and verification of you and your music. 

In the world of digital music streaming with Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, radio may have taken a hit, but have you seen it become inoperative? No. That's because there are still so many people who listen to the radio. Now, radio is more ‘vintage’ than ever. Similar to how physical music promotion with vinyl records, cassettes, and CDs are making a comeback because they are now considered ‘aesthetic,’ radio streaming is now in fashion! 

Pssst…come here: Starting from 13-year-olds (yeah, we were surprised too), music streaming through radio was big in 2022, with 82% of Americans consuming terrestrial radio. 

Convinced yet?

How to get radio plays for your music?

Many articles and music promoters at radio stations cite up to $100,000 for a radio play with rotation. If you have the bankroll for it, well.

Please note that radio stations, commercial or non-commercial, are NOT supposed to charge you any money to get your song to be played on any radio show. Taking money from the artist for a guaranteed radio play is illegal, and it's called PAYOLA. Although many musicians continue to pay radio show directors and producers for a radio play, we advise you to not engage in payola. 

Pssst…come here: Money or no money, let’s give you guys a heads up - a radio play is a long-term project - months of effort and labor has to be spent on getting an audience good enough on other platforms, be it Spotify, SoundCloud, on social media like Instagram. Networking will be your daily task and there’s honestly no shortcut to it either. So treat a radio play as a research project, the more time you spend collecting contacts and defining your music, the better chances you will have at getting your music on the radio.

For those of you who don’t, we got you. Here we will guide you on increasing your chances of getting your music played on the radio without selling your kidney for it. 

• An Irresistible Portfolio

Treat the process as you would apply for a corporate job. Make a portfolio that speaks for your talent.

Your experience field should be pretty tight - a fairly good streaming count on your Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, and other apps. A great streaming count will reassure the music directors and producers at the radio stations that they won't be ‘risking’ a radio play. Get your music playlisted with independent music curators as well as editorial playlists of Spotify to gain more traction. Submit your music through free submission platforms and other means to playlisters to get a spot for your track. You don't have to be supremely popular (if you were, you wouldn’t need radio plays anyway), but the idea is to show that you have a good following and the music’s reach definitely has the POTENTIAL for more, a potential that can be reaped through radio plays.  

• Research Contacts

Build a spreadsheet of all the people you know. Research contacts of the stations you want to get your music played at. 

For non-commercial radio stations, the staff usually is very small, so the email IDs provided on their official websites will be enough. But for commercial radio stations, every show will have a different producer and director. The details of these professionals are not easily made available to the general masses.

We suggest you follow the RJ of the show on their social media and then try to know who the music directors and producers are at their workplace - you will find them in their followers/following list on Instagram. It's even better if they are on LinkedIn. 

Attend events and other shows to increase your networks. You’ll meet people who know other professionals in the stations you may be interested in. The idea is to not only get their contacts but leave a good impression on those who you do end up meeting. This implies that you are assertive about radio plays and hence, you’ll be considered seriously too. 

Classification of radio stations in your sheet is very important. Know which stations play what genre of songs majorly. You can’t expect a radio station that often plays jazz music to play a metal track of yours. This way, you can narrow down your options better and give 100% effort to only those stations that actually play music from the genre you make tracks of as well. 

• The Approach

This means two things: Firstly, know how the professionals like to be approached, do they like emails, do they like online meetings, would they prefer meeting you (which is highly unlikely, but worth looking into), or would they like it if you just left an Instagram DM. Secondly, know which format you could submit your music to. 

The first is pretty easy to answer, get in touch with another artist or someone who has already approached them and get insights. We recommend working with a music promoter who specializes in radio shows. They will know EXACTLY whom to approach for what, when, and how. Make sure you share your music's ideology and vision with them so that they understand what you're looking for and cater information to suit those needs. 

Pssst…come here: There are other professionals called Radio Pluggers as well. They mediate between you, the artist, and the radio stations you want to get a radio play, and network on your behalf. They usually already have a long list of representatives and other professionals so you'll be off to a good start if you hire one. Most of these Radio Pluggers work on a commission basis. You can find some contacts on the Radio Pluggers website, and Horus Music. Some start small, so they aren't completely unaffordable to you.

We've got a one-stop solution for the second part - an EPK. Make sure you have an electronic press kit ready, in other words, your portfolio. This is basically a document with all your contact details, press coverage, blogs, publications, and most importantly, streaming links using smartlinks, for your tracks, on every possible app. The idea is to attach this EPK in your emails when you're getting in touch with those music producers of a radio station. 

Pssst…come here: If you can’t make it in person, and the music producers request a digital format, an MP3, not a streaming link, send a demo of the song. If they like it, they’ll definitely want to give your entire track a listen and want to meet you to discuss the next procedure. That way, you avoid any risk of copying your beats/music. 

There are different file naming conventions that music artists are supposed to follow. Such a convention from a popular radio show in the UK states that you should name your music in the audio file, with normal capitalization, no underscores, commas, and NO ALL CAPS allowed. An example of this could be:

Song Name By Artist Name Composer Ayame Language Year City Genre.mp3

Here’s a quirky idea: Send a mixtape! Back in the 20th century when sending mixtapes to radio stations was almost a tradition every young adult followed, the idea was to just DO IT, not everyone's mixtapes got featured or even listened to. You could do it now, when NO ONE does it because you could stand out in the crowd. The fact that it's so rare to get mixtapes at a radio station will catalyze your chances to stand apart and get a chance at being heard, for real.

How to track a radio play?

The only way you can answer this question: How effective were the radio plays I got on the ABC station? - is to track the radio plays. 

Tracking your radio play is easy with so many tools that you can find online. Submission platforms and labels like Soundcharts, and tools like Chartmetric and PlayTreks offer inbuilt data analysis tools that you could use. You have to pay a small fee of course, but the data you get gives you insights on how radio play has impacted your music reach, if at all. Data analysis is extremely important for a musician to know what exactly is working and what isn’t. 

World Airplay Radio Monitor is the most prominent radio airplay tracker and probably the best one as well since it has access to more than 30,000 radio stations. 

Our final say

Do not underestimate radio, just because Spotify playlisting has taken the limelight. Yes, it’s difficult to get a radio play but with the right song, months of follow-up, and persistent efforts, radio play can be the career maker for you. The budget could be a big constraint, but with the right contacts in your email list, it will take long, but won’t be impossible. We recommend giving it a shot! 

We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now! 

 

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